Jenrick defends Farage racism claims, calling him a 'stand against racism'
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's Treasury spokesperson, defended Nigel Farage against racism claims on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, saying Farage had probably done more than almost anybody else to stand against racism and the far right.
Jenrick defends Farage racism claims, calling him a 'stand against racism'
Jenrick's defence on the Today programme
Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's Treasury spokesperson and MP for Newark, made the remarks on BBC Radio 4's Today programme while defending the party against an undercover ITV Exposure investigation.
He's someone who's probably done more than almost anybody else to stand against racism and the far right.
Jenrick, speaking about Nigel Farage, said he is the most heavily scrutinised figure in British politics, and that the documentary had failed to besmirch his character, which Jenrick said was presumably its objective.
What Jenrick was responding to
The ITV investigation recorded a senior Reform official warning Farage that he was protecting a high-profile mayoral candidate accused of making racist comments about David Lammy, the former foreign secretary. The candidate was Chris Parry, a retired rear admiral picked to contest the Hampshire and the Solent mayoral election.
Parry said Lammy should go home to the Caribbean last year, and suggested that at least eight other politicians from minority ethnic backgrounds did not have a primary loyalty towards the UK. Ed Sumner, Reform's head of communications, told another press officer that Parry was clearly a racist.
- Reform stood by Parry for months and eventually suspended him in March after the Guardian revealed other remarks by Parry
- The year-long investigation also showed Reform councillors and election candidates making threats of extreme violence and expressing racist, Islamophobic and misogynistic views
- Alan Feeney, a Reform councillor and deputy mayor of Solihull, called Asian homeowners parasites and said no more than 1% of the British population can be non-white
- Sarah Pochin, one of Reform's two female MPs, complained in the footage that party officials are chauvinistic and exclude women
Jenrick's answer on Reform's vetting
Asked about the party's screening of candidates, Jenrick said: "In my experience, all political parties have bad apples". He pointed out that Feeney was for a short time a Reform councillor but for a much greater time a Conservative councillor.
"We actually have very strong vetting, and we invest a huge amount in it, and it's improving all the time," Jenrick said. He contrasted this with the Conservative Party, his former party, where he said there is absolutely no vetting whatsoever by the central party for local councillors.
The wider record
The defence sits against Farage's repeated promises over the last two years to rid Reform of extremists and bigots and introduce vetting. The party says it carries out vetting checks on everyone who wants to stand for election.
Jenrick's remarks came after the Guardian published its report on 16 October 2026.
